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When Josh DeChellis parted ways with Jeffrey Chodorow’s Kobe Club in November (as you may remember reading here), it seemed like the Sumile Sushi chef had missed a major opportunity. But now, with Kobe Club battered by the critics (with one notable exception), DeChellis smells rosier by the minute.

This is also thanks, in no small part, to him recasting his restaurant as Sumile Sushi: The pairing of his fusion prowess with Toshio Oguma’s classical sushi technique has resulted in one of New York’s better sushi selections — which we just happen to have available here, as part of our grand, ever-growing, ever-updated menu database. (DeChellis also tells us that Sumile Tokyo is a smashing success, and we’d like to think that it’s not just because one of his partners is a J-pop superstar.) He takes no special satisfaction in dodging the Kobe Club debacle, however: “I became close with those people, and feel bad for what they’re experiencing.” Still, he can’t help noting that “everything happens for a reason.”

Related: Butchered [NYM]